Physical Violent Victimization Among Transgender and Gender-diverse Adolescents: Evolving Temporal Patterns

Abstract

Attitudes towards transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people have become generally more accepting over the last few years. However, there have also been signs of countermovement and a global increase in hate-motivated violence against TGD individuals. The accumulation of violence experiences for TGD people begins already in the early years, highlighting the vulnerability of TGD youth. This study examines changes in physical violent victimization among TGD adolescents (12- to 17-year-olds) from 2017 to 2023 by utilizing data from the Finnish School Health Promotion studies (N = 534,222). We examined the prevalences and temporal changes in experiences of physical violent victimization by cross-tabulations with pairwise z-tests and binary logistic regression analysis. We also examined the help-receiving tendencies of the different gender categories. The results indicate that TGD youth face higher rates of physical violent victimization than their cisgender peers. However, the gap between these groups seems to be narrowing, as are the differences between the gender minority groups. TGD adolescents are more likely to need and receive help for experiences of physical violent victimization, yet they also report more unmet needs, particularly from their parents. Despite the favourable trends in prevalences, TGD adolescents remain disproportionately affected, highlighting the need for better support systems and constructive public discussion on the well-being of TGD adolescents.